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This Adventurer Reenacts "Up" With A Lawn Chair And Balloons In South Africa

This Adventurer Reenacts "Up" With A Lawn Chair And Balloons In South Africa

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This Adventurer Reenacts "Up" With A Lawn Chair And Balloons In South Africa

This 38-year-old British guy is taking cosplay to new heights.

Equipped with 100 helium balloons and a lawn chair, Tom Morgan launched himself 8,000 feet into the air above Johannesburg, South Africa. The flight covered 15.5 miles, lasting a total of 2.5 hours.

Morgan describes the flight as "unbelievably cool".

But what was his reason for risking life and limb on a flying lawn chair? This Bristol-based guy dreams of starting a helium balloon race across Africa.

"We will have to avoid areas with lots of spiky bushes though," Morgan points out.

This was his first test flight.

Morgan originally began the project in Botswana but struggled to find ideal conditions for his experiment.

"The problem was finding a good weather window and it was difficult to protect the balloons as they kept bursting," he says.

After moving the project from Botswana to South Africa, he spent two days inflating the balloons before attempting take off. Conditions there were more favorable and his rickety craft took to the air.

Morgan was both terrified and elated by the success. As the chair rose higher, so did the temperature. He was fast approaching the inversion layer of the atmosphere, the highest point of his flight.

At this point, the higher he flew, the faster he rose. It was clearly time to come back down.

"I had to keep my cool and start gradually cutting the balloons."

Morgan survived the flight unscathed and plans to follow through with his African helium balloon race. Interested in joining the adventure? Stay tuned via The Adventurist website for more details and pray that Morgan's next country of choice doesn't contain "spiky bushes".